Camp Nou – Barcelona, 26 May 1999
1998–99 UEFA Champions League Final
The late May sun hung warm over Barcelona, casting a golden glow over the concrete ribs of Camp Nou. The streets around Les Corts buzzed hours before kickoff. Vendors shouted. Scarves fluttered. The air smelled of roasted almonds, tobacco smoke, and anticipation.
Richard read the financial pages over coffee in a quiet hotel near Avinguda Diagonal to make sure nothing had been overlooked — stadium construction costs, wage structures, and projected expenditures for his club.
By early afternoon, a driver dropped him near Camp Nou. Security was strict but not excessive — only paper tickets and physical stubs in those days. At the VIP entrance, a steward in a blazer checked his embossed ticket and nodded him through.
